Latin America

Cement company Cemex became the first Mexican credit to issue internationally since January as it tapped European investors for a new seven that it will use to refinance existing debt.

After the quietest start to a year in nearly a decade, Latin American primary markets jolted into action on Tuesday with Brazilian oil giant Petrobras making the biggest splash.

Cemex is back in the bond market after a year and a half’s absence, opening books on a senior secured bond in euros.

Chilean power generation company AES Gener is looking to take advantage of favourable market conditions and cut its funding costs by issuing a new subordinated note to refinance a similar instrument.

The operator of Ecuador’s largest airport finally raised the bond market funding it was seeking on Friday, eventually increasing the size of the deal by $50m as some investors were attracted to a rarely seen yield.

Central American development bank Cabei will return to US bond markets for the first time since 2012 after a better than expected two notch upgrade from S&P left it keen to enter the realm of true SSAs, said its CFO. But the issuer will be doing so without Fitch, after deciding the rating agency’s methodology did not reflect its new business model.

Some EM bond investors were hopeful that Friday would see the concessionaire operating Quito’s new airport break a hiatus of more than three weeks in Latin American new issues, despite not pricing as scheduled on Thursday.

Government-owned Costa Rican lender Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BNCR) is looking to buy back a portion of its shortest-dated international bond.

Caribbean cable company Digicel returned to the bond markets on Thursday with a senior secured bond deal that allows it to repay funds drawn down on its revolving credit facility, as well as its bank term loan A.

An affiliate of the concessionaire operating Quito’s new airport will look to break more than the three week hiatus in Latin American new issues on Thursday with an amortising trade that looks set to come well wide of the Ecuadorean sovereign.

Two emerging market borrowers familiar to investors returned to the Swiss franc market this week, injecting some geographical diversity into the sector.

The outcome of Ukraine’s presidential elections at the end of March will bear great influence on the nation’s economic future, and investors are fearful of the results.